For filling containers with liquids, it is well-known to use a so-called "bottom-up" filler technique in order to eliminate the build-up of foam. In this technology, either the filler nozzle is lowered into the container and then raised during the filling sequence, or the container is lifted around the filler nozzle and then lowered during the filling sequence, with the two separating at a rate commensurate with the flow rate of the liquid.
When it is the container which is lifted and then lowered, in lieu of a means for pushing the container downwardly, usually at the top edge thereof, it has been customary to employ a vacuum system wherein a vacuum cup on the end of a vertical actuator engages the bottom surface of the container. This is important to prevent jamming in the event that a filler does not function and an empty, light weight container, such as a paperboard container, does not descend properly. When the container is full, and with higher production rates, the vacuum cup actuator tends to not smoothly deposit the heavy, filled container back onto the conveyor unit, resulting in some splashing of the contents.
The use of the vacuum cup has heretofore required that the line of containers being conveyed toward and away from the filler station have little, if any, forward motion before the vacuum cup actuator begins to lift the container from a conveyor compartment, in order that relative sideward motion between the vacuum cup and the container bottom be minimized so as to eliminate undue wear and rolling of the cup.